5 Reasons Your Brand Should Be Buying Into Vertical Video

Today brands are finding it harder and harder to capture the attention of millennials using traditional advertising formats, even in the mobile space. However, in a time where attention spans are steadily shrinking, there seems to be a content format that’s more captivating than all the others, vertical video. Vertical video is an aspect ratio of 9:16, compared to the traditional landscape ratio of 16:9 —think tall and skinny. That means when a phone is held upright the video takes up the entire screen, avoiding the wasted space that you’ve probably noticed while watching video in apps like Facebook and Twitter.

Though vertical video has been traditionally frowned upon and even mocked, like in the 2012 Vertical Video Syndrome PSA, advertisers are finding that it actually appeals to the “Connected Generation”. So, if your brand isn’t tapping into the vertical video market, it’s high time you do. We’ll give you the five biggest reasons why you should.

1. Everyone is Watching Video on Their Phone

Smart phones just may be the death of the desktop. Thanks to steadily growing screen sizes, high quality displays and the popularity of social media apps like Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram — more and more people are watching video on their phone. According to a 2015 report, about 75% of people 18-20 years old watch video on their smartphone. That number is only going to go up in the years to come. So stop filming for the big screen and start optimizing for the smaller one.

2. Vertical Video Has Increased Over 600% in the Last 5 Years

As our dependency on mobile devices increases, we are consuming more and more content vertically. According to a 2015 internet trends report, we spend 29% of our total screen time viewing vertical content. That’s about 2.8 hours a day, which is 600% increase over the last 5 years. If you’re wondering what’s coming next, all trends point to more vertical video.

3. People Hold Their Phones Vertically 94% of the Time

Pick up your phone. Chances are you are holding it in portrait mode, that’s vertical. Now your friend sends you a funny video, do you turn your phone to watch it? Most likely, you don’t, and you’re not alone. A global study found that people hold their mobile phones vertically 94% of the time. So why would you produce video content that only 6% of people would view appropriately? We don’t know either.

4. Vertical Videos Have a 9X Higher Completion Rate

According to internal data from Snapchat, the industry leader in vertical video, content filmed vertically has a 9 times higher completion rate than content filmed in traditional landscape mode. Snapchat is setting the standard with nearly 3 billion video views daily. It is expected that brands could see similar results with vertical video in other big apps. Kiip wants to help brands tap into that potential by offering native vertical video placements in apps like musical.ly, an app extremely popular with teens, and Perfect365, known for being one of Kim Kardashians faves.

5. Other Brands Are Seeing Great Results

AT&T, an early adopter of vertical video, had great success with a 73% completion rate in a Snapchat campaign, according to ClickZ. This is an impressive feat considering that, during the run of the campaign, users had to continually interact with the video in order to keep the content running to completion. In the current market, consumers are aggressively seeking fresh new content to satisfy their appetite for vertical video. Brands that are taking advantage of this new format are yielding unprecedented results.

Is it time for you brand to get into vertical video? You might want to consider becoming Kiip’s first to market vertical video partner. Kiip’s native and rotational moments-based placements maximize the benefits of this intuitive, mobile-first video format, including higher impact and completion rates. If this interests you, reach out to us at hello@kiip.me.

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